


Tell Me the Way They Said "I Love You"

by plantyourtreeswithme



Category: Gandrew - Fandom, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Comfort, Explicit Language, Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, Pining, Quarantine, gandrew - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:02:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23809561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plantyourtreeswithme/pseuds/plantyourtreeswithme
Summary: The various different ways Andrew and Garrett confess their love to each other, as prompted bythis post.
Relationships: Andrew Siwicki/Garrett Watts
Comments: 7
Kudos: 46





	1. Too Quick, Mumbled into Your Scarf

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompted by @[exoticfollower](https://exoticfollower.tumblr.com): _For the prompt thing: 30 🥰 Thank you for blessing us with your amazing writing ❤️_
> 
> Thank _you_ , dear, for reading!!

The wind nips at his skin as he steps out of the car.

The roof of Shane's new, alabaster villa is coated red and yellow, leaves already clogging up the gutters. Andrew wants to stand here forever and count each one, if only to stay at Garrett's side a little longer.

"You can come with me, you know," he says, turning as Garrett gets out of the driver's side, leans against the car doors. "Shane told me he thinks it'd be nice for you to come hang out again."

Garrett's face contorts, brow furrowing and lips pressing together at Andrew's words. "I don't think Ryland would like that very much," he says, low and soft. Sorrow gnaws at Andrew's heart, stings at the sight of Garrett's obvious distress.

"Okay," he says gently. He won't push it. "Okay. Then. You'll pick me up at eight?"

"Yeah."

"We can grab dinner on the way home, if you want," Andrew suggests - wheedling, coercing a small smile from Garrett's lovely mouth. "Watch movies when we get back."

"That'd be nice, Andrew," Garrett says, and there is life in him now, his normal energy re-instilled as he goes on, eyes sparkling. "You can pick."

"Yeah?" Andrew grins. His stomach leaps as Garrett comes around, making his way over to Andrew so they can hug. He's breathless as Garrett's scent washes over him, hands trembling as Garrett's hand slides naturally to his waist, gripping him gently and looking into his eyes like he's searching for something he knows he will not find. Then he pulls him in, arms catching behind his back, and Andrew staggers at the closeness of their embrace, at the delightful warmth washing over him, even as the autumn breeze chills his skin.

It will never be enough for Andrew - he can't ever _get_ enough of Garrett, transfixed as he is by the sheer amount of affection he feels for his best friend.

Then Garrett pulls away, caresses Andrew's cheek with the back of his hand; and Andrew cannot help it, he leans forward slightly, because _how_ can Garrett look at him like that and not expect Andrew to kiss him -

And then the door, several yards away, is being opened, and Shane stands there watching, and Andrew's heart fractures at the expression on Garrett's face.

"Andrew," Shane calls warily from the doorway. He keeps his distance, doesn't move from his spot; stares cautiously at Garrett, like he's afraid to say anything.

Andrew nods without looking, making it clear he hears his boss' quiet warning. "I have to go," he apologizes. Garrett's fingers haven't left his cheek.

"I know you do," Garrett says, his soft smile telling Andrew he's forgiven. He is careful not to even glance at Shane. "I'll see you later tonight."

Then he's walking back to his car, and before Andrew can stop himself, he's saying, "I love you" - but it's too quick, mumbled into the sweet-smelling fabric of his scarf. The article Garrett let him borrow this morning: snatching it down from the little hook on his wall; throwing it into the dryer before they left so it'd be perfectly toasty; and winding it snug about Andrew's neck, fingers brushing at the soft skin of Andrew's collarbone.

Andrew stands and watches him drive away, the taste of regret a bitter stain upon his tongue.

Then he turns and follows Shane - who is aloof and distant, cold with the knowledge of where Andrew's loyalty truly lies - into the house.


	2. Loud, so Everyone can Hear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompted by @[emeraldwatts](https://emeraldwatts.tumblr.com): _FIFTEEN!!!_
> 
> If [Garrett's prank on Bunny](https://youtu.be/eExAkGrcoQ8?t=2052) had gone differently.

Andrew is trembling, and it's not because of the absolute terror that had transfixed him in this awful fucking building, when they all heard the sound.

No. It isn't what Garrett did. It's Shane's voice, firm and biting and numb, berating Garrett in some long-forgotten corner - and it's Bunny's pitiful sobs breaking the terrible silence that has fallen over them - and it's Garrett's exclamations of distress, high and panicked, shattering Andrew as he just _stands_ here, dumb, clenching the camera so hard in his hand, he's afraid it'll break, but he can't stop -

"Andrew," Ryland says. "Why don't you turn the camera off." He nudges Andrew's arm in exhortation, a sorry attempt to calm him down, but it just makes him angrier.

He shuts it off, shoves it into his bag, and buries his hands in his pockets, glowering.

He waits.

And finally, Shane comes marching back, the expression on his face daring anyone to speak. He pushes past Andrew, making his way to Bunny, and Andrew decides he can't do this anymore - can't stand quietly behind the camera and pretend Garrett isn't everything to him, isn't the only person he holds above everyone else.

He presses his camera bag into Morgan's arms and all but runs to Garrett, still in that far-off, haunted aisle.

"Garrett," he says desperately, voice cracking as he sees his friend wiping at his eyes. He slows as he approaches, dumbstruck, reeling at how pale and blue Garrett's eyes are, lined red like this.

 _Beautiful,_ he would've said, had they been alone. _You're so, so beautiful, and you don't even know._

"Oh, hey, Andrew," Garrett says, voice thick with tears. He gives a watery smile, trying to pretend he is alright, and Andrew feels his own eyes welling, distraught at the sight of his best friend reduced to such a state.

"You didn't do anything wrong," he says fiercely - hands grabbing, clinging to Garrett's jacket. "She overreacted. It was just a joke."

"No, I fucked up, Andrew," Garrett tells him. He's miserable, bedraggled; hair disheveled from the sheer amount of times he's nervously run his fingers through it. "Shane told me. He said it was too much -"

"You apologized," Andrew says. "Twenty times. It's her fault for losing her shit over it, it was _obviously_ a prank - it wasn't even real - it's her fucking fault for letting all this shit get to her head."

Garrett convulses, chest shuddering with sobs, and Andrew holds him steady, grounding him with his touch, trying not to panic at Garrett's uncharacteristic display of despair. "Listen to me. You made a mistake, and you apologized. She completely overreacted. _She's_ the one who took it too far, not you."

"Andrew," Garrett cries - tears leaking down his face, seeping over Andrew's thumb on his cheek - "Andrew, how can you say that, you don't even -"

"Because I love you," Andrew chokes out, voice rising with the severity of his emotions - and it is loud, _too_ loud, and he knows everyone has heard him by the way the entire store suddenly quiets, hushes at the sound of his divulgence.

Garrett stills in his arms. The silence that ensues chills Andrew to the bone, drags on for what seems like hours.

Then, finally: "You don't mean that, Andrew."

"Yes, I do," he whispers wretchedly. "I love you. With every fiber of my being."

"No -"

 _"Garrett,"_ he presses, and then mutters, "Oh, fine," and surges forward, kissing Garrett like his life depends on it.

This isn't what Andrew wanted. He'd dreamt of stargazing in Garrett's backyard, or going out to their favorite sushi place and kissing him afterwards in the parking lot, or stealing a moment away from everyone else on one of Shane and Ryland's excursions to Vegas. He'd wanted it to be perfect - nothing but the best for Garrett, and now he's gone and fucked it up by saying he loves him too soon and kissing him way too fast, and -

Garrett pulls away and says, _"Oh,"_ and Andrew softens, anxiety quelling. He kisses Garrett again - two, three more times - and then frames his face with his hands.

"I love you," he tells him again. "I love you, and I'm right about this, and they're wrong, and it's all gonna be okay."

And the smile Garrett gives him in return, as his tears shine like streaks of lavender in the darkness of the shop, makes this all worth it.


	3. When We Lay Together on the Fresh Spring Grass

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompted by anonymous: _12! I feel like they're doing a lot of laying in spring grass right now ♥️_

"Wh," Andrew splutters - giggles tearing out of him already, like Garrett's stolen his heart right out of his chest - " _Where_ did you get a _picnic basket_ from?"

Garrett shushes him and tugs on his hand, their lunch dangling precariously in the crook of his elbow. "Come on, Andrew!" he says, all bubbly and golden. "Quarantine picnic!"

And Andrew has no choice but to let Garrett drag him along, following him outside, down the stairs of the deck, and tripping over his own feet as they walk across the lawn, and laughing the whole way. Garrett eventually stops in the middle of the backyard, spreading a quilt out in the sun and pulling them both down to sit on it.

"What'd you bring?" Andrew finds himself asking; smiling as the forest lilts and sways behind them, pine needles dancing in the wind and settling themselves on their checkered picnic blanket.

 _"Well,"_ Garrett says, in his "let's-catch-up-with-Jesse-Wellens" voice that makes Andrew absolutely _die_ , choke on catatonic laughter - and then cackle even harder as Garrett pulls a large bottle of vodka from the formerly innocent, now-tainted basket. He makes an intangible noise, his tongue lapsing as he struggles to express his sheer bewilderment (and utter delight) at Garrett's behavior. Garrett winks at him as he goes to retrieve two glasses and a decanter of cognac from the wicker depths, and Andrew's positively lost it, laughing so hard he can't even sit up straight - leaning against Garrett for support.

He wheezes, gasps for breath.

These are the moments he lives for.

"So," he eventually manages, voice already tired from disuse, "you brought... alcohol for lunch?"

"Of course I got booze, Andrew -"

"What will Mr. Randy Watts say, Garrett, when he finds out you've raided his liquor cabinet for the fiftieth time in your life -"

"Try thousandth," Garrett says, laying the rest of the food out in front of them. Andrew's relieved he actually brought something to soften the edge of the whiskey; he doesn't like drinking on an empty stomach. "And don't you worry, Andrew, I made us _sandwiches_."

"What kind of sandwiches?"

" _Bee_ sandwiches, you idiot, to match our bee-themed cottage," Garrett exclaims, in his mock-outrage falsetto. "What did you expect?!" And Andrew howls with laughter at the ridiculousness of that statement, at the way Garrett says the words and then guffaws, throwing his head back and laughing at the utter silliness of such a concept with him.

They eat their lunch and drink enough to feel all lovely and warm, and afterwards, they lie down on the blanket, the field tickling their bare feet. Andrew is holding Garrett's hand, and breathing in the bright Spokane air, his lungs filling further than they've ever expanded before.

He looks over at Garrett, who has fallen asleep with his face to the sky.

"I love you," he says, as they lay together on the fresh spring grass - as his heart is so full, he can hardly bear it.

Garrett doesn't hear him, but that's alright. Andrew has more than enough time to tell him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This take assumes that Andrew and Garrett are staying with Garrett's father in Spokane.


	4. In Awe, the First Time You Realized It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompted by anonymous: _I feel like 31 would be so cute with Gandrew_
> 
> Prompted by anonymous: _#31 from the ficlist? ❣️_
> 
> Set during [the Queen Mary series](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehby1npFCnk), and partly inspired by @[emeraldwatts](https://emeraldwatts.tumblr.com)!

"I wanna fall in love up here!" Garrett says as they approach the hulking, festering ship, and something tugs at Andrew's gut - a falling sensation in the pit of his stomach; like he's on a rollercoaster, and they've just crested the top of a peak and are soaring down and down - and then Garrett turns to him and says, "Andrew?" with something so lovely in his eyes, and Andrew -

He's breathless, all the wind knocked out of him, but everyone around them laughs because it was so _obviously_ a joke, Garrett can't possibly be serious, right?

And then they're in the hotel room, Andrew's hands opening and closing, unsure what to do at the lack of a camera in his hands when Shane takes it and turns it on him, and Garrett is saying, "Aww, _look_ at him," and blinding him briefly with the flash of his little digital - and Andrew falters again, at the expression on Garrett's face as he looks down, grinning, at the tiny monitor.

Shane comes and wakes them at three a.m., and he pretends to be asleep, but he can hear the mirth in his voice when he speaks, smirking at the way Garrett is sitting, protectively, at the end of the couch - and Andrew shakes himself of his drowsiness, wishing he and Garrett could stay here longer; hoping that when they return, maybe Garrett will find the courage to climb up onto the sofa and wrap himself around Andrew and fall asleep at his side.

His heart pounds, threatens to smother him as he watches Garrett climb up into the bowels of the ship, ignoring their calling of his name. When he finally comes back, Andrew cuts the camera, tugs on Garrett's sleeve, and mutters, "Don't you _ever_ scare me like that again, Garrett" - and Garrett smirks, says:

"Can't promise you anything, Andrew;" touches his hand to the small of Andrew's back, sending a shock like an electric current through his blood, and walks away.

When they're back in their suite, and Garrett is asleep on top of the mattress he dragged out onto the floor, his hand slack in Andrew's - that's when he says it. He parts his lips and wets them with his tongue, testing its weight, the way it hangs heavily in the dry air of the room.

"I love you," he whispers - in awe, the first time he's realized it; the first time he has ever said the words in this way.

Then he says again: "I love you, Garrett," hoping Shane isn't awake to hear.

And again, a third time, until it feels natural to declare, to tell the world he is in love with Garrett Watts.

Garrett wakes a few hours later, gently pulling his hand from Andrew's grip and rousing the smaller of the two. "Go back to sleep, honey," he says when he realizes his mistake, the endearment slipping from his mouth like it is the easiest thing in the world to him - and Andrew's heart staggers, thuds against his ribs like a chant, humming, _"I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you,"_ daring Andrew to say the words aloud.

He isn't ready yet. He is too scared that he's wrong, that Garrett doesn't love him in return.

So he peers at Garrett's stubbled, glasses-less face; cast in the remaining shadows of sleep, but glowing palely in the cool morning light that pools in the corner of the living room. And he smiles.

And Garrett smiles back, sweet as honeysuckle, and his touch is warm on Andrew's cheek as he reaches up with one hand - warm enough to scare away any ghosts that may try to follow them back home.


	5. Muffled, From the Other Side of the Door

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompted by @[emeraldwatts](https://emeraldwatts.tumblr.com): _22... maybe... 🥺_
> 
> Sorry this took so long! Finals week is approaching, and I’ve been studying and practicing hard. Here's my first Garrett POV, just for Esme ❤️

"Andrew," he says again - helplessly, like he is running out of hope. He glances over at Shane, who looks at him with eyes full of fear.

He hates this.

He hates that _Shane_ was the one to call him, not Andrew - despises the fact that it was Shane's voice in his ear at four in the morning, begging him to come over, because Andrew was having a panic attack while editing and he couldn't get him to calm down.

"Do you think you could leave us alone?" Garrett asks now, trying not to snap at Shane. He's grateful, deep down, that Shane called, he really is. But he somehow can't force himself to lock the old anger away, the spite and ire he feels at the way Shane has treated him.

Shane exhales slowly. "Yeah," he says. "Yeah, of course. Take all the time you need." He turns and pads down the hallway, his robe swaying slightly at his ankles, and Garrett breathes a sigh of relief.

"Andrew," he says again, knocking softly at the door to the guest bedroom. "Andrew, honey, can you please open up? It's Garrett."

Nothing.

"Sweetheart, I just want to see you. Shane asked me to come so I could be with you and help you calm down."

Again, silence; but he thinks he can just barely detect the sound of shuffling fabric on the other side, as if Andrew is adjusting himself so as to better hear Garrett's voice.

"Andrew," he says again; bites his lip. "Baby." Glances down the hall to see if Shane or Ryland are eavesdropping, then gulps down a deep breath and says, "Andrew, hon, can you please unlock the door?"

Then, so very quiet: "I love you. I'm here."

He knows it is muffled, that Andrew can probably barely hear him from the other side, as softly as he'd pitched his voice, in order for it not to carry through the terrible high ceilings, the open walls of this ghastly house -

But Andrew hears. Garrett knows he does, because the doorknob is clicking, turning, swinging back - and he takes one look at Andrew and engulfs him in his arms, thinking he might just fall apart at the paleness of Andrew's face, the dull heaviness in his eyes.

Andrew cries into his shoulder, and Garrett cups the back of his head in his hand, letting his tears soak into the fabric of his flannel shirt without a care. He breathes in the scent of Andrew, holds him tightly so he will not tremble any longer. Promises never to let go.

"It's okay, baby," he says sweetly, once they are sitting on the bed and the door is shut behind them, and Andrew is tucked softly into his embrace, slotted perfectly against Garrett's body like he was sculpted by hand, carved out of some reddish, pinkish clay to fit perfectly with Garrett.

"It'll be alright," he says. "I'm here." He doesn't press, doesn't ask Andrew what's happened. He lets him push himself even further into Garrett's grasp, like he can't ever get close enough, and it's more than alright.

They're together, and that is enough.

**Author's Note:**

> These have all been originally posted to [my Tumblr](https://cherryblossomwatts.tumblr.com). Please feel free to follow me if you'd like, and leave a comment below if you enjoy my writing!
> 
> Pick a number from [this list](https://cherryblossomwatts.tumblr.com/post/616192348783853568/the-way-you-said-i-love-you), and either comment a request or [send me an ask on Tumblr!](https://cherryblossomwatts.tumblr.com/ask)


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